(05-26-2014 11:23 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote: (05-26-2014 11:10 AM)asupatch Wrote: McNeese? Tenn St? Any thoughts on those two? McNeese has a really good football tradition and good fan base.
McNeese will have TREMENDOUS problems from a budget standpoint.
Plus, having 3 in Louisiana seems to be overkill. Similar to having 3 in Georgia or Alabama seems to be too much. In general, the only states I see where it's big enough to handle multiple (more than 2) in a conference are California, Texas, & Florida.
McNeese is doing a great job of "bang for the buck". According to the Department of Education OPE Equity in Athletics database here is a comparison of their spending compared with their Texas conference mates. (2010 data from USAToday database)
McNeese State: $ 9,130,737 vs 2010 spending - $ 7,890,850
Lamar: $15,044,029 vs 2010 spending - $10,073,831
SHSU: $12,370,692 vs 2010 spending - $9,900,860
SFA: $14,130,613 vs 2010 spending - $13,821,642
Here are some other programs that have been discussed:
EKU: $11,858,777 vs 2010 spending - $12,309,887
JSU: $12,640,684 vs 2010 spending - $10,141,416
MSU: $15,126,054 vs 2010 spending - $14,317,804
UT-C: $14,344,501 vs 2010 spending - $13,115,269
Notes: 1. Omitted Liberty from comparison above because they are not included in USAToday database. OPE Equity database shows $25,270,726 for them.
2. Expenses are driven by sports offerings. A review would probably need to be normalized for a decent comparison.
3. Another component that would need to be normalized is out of state tuition. Some states allow out of state tuitition to be waived. Others do not. Below are examples of budgetary impacts related to out of state tuition for scholarship athletes.
From University of Colorado athletics site:
http://cubuffclub.com/giving/your-impact
From article on NCState Rivals site:
https://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1107412
4. A related factor is difference in tuition costs. Assuming all athletes are in-state, here are the per hour rates...tuition only; does not consider fees.
McNeese State: $190
Lamar: $208
SHSU: $304
SFA: $221
EKU: $314
JSU: $283
MSU: $230
UT-C: $404
Liberty: $340
Based on the above, it would be incorrect to compare unadjusted athletic expenses. There are several factors including legislative, rate structure, cost-of-living, sponsored sports, debt retirement, etc. that have a big impact on the amount of money required.